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Mario Kempes

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Mario Kempes
Kempes celebrates a goal in the 1978 World Cup final
Personal information
Full name Mario Alberto Kempes
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Retired
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 November 2006

Mario Alberto Kempes (born July 15, 1954 in Bell Ville, Córdoba) is an Argentine former football striker. His father, Mario, who was also a football player, inspired him to play from a young age. At the age of 7 years, he began playing with a junior team and at 14 he joined la cuarta de Talleres. He is most famous for playing for Valencia and being the focal point of Argentina's 1978 World Cup win.

Career

Kempes was nicknamed El Matador (The Bullfighter) from his time with Valencia, he won two consecutive Pichichis, scoring 24 and 28 goals in 1976-77 and 1977-78. His career where started at a local club called Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba before quickly moving on to Rosario Central where he gained 85 goals in just 105 matches and established himself as a notorious goalscorer. Famous as a hard-working forward, he used to strike from outside the penalty area with his surging runs goalwards and was not the traditional center-forward operating solely inside the box. Many defenders found difficulties handling his attacking style. They never knew where they had him.

Before the 1978 World Cup, Kempes was the only foreign based player on the list of coach César Luis Menotti's national team in Argentina, he was at the time playing for Spanish giants Valencia while the other squad members all played in Argentina. The coach described him when announcing the squad he had selected for the 1978 tournament, "He's strong, he's got skill, he creates spaces and he shoots hard. He's a player who can make a difference, and he can play in a centre-forward position".

The skinny forward had been topscorer in La Liga in each of the past two seasons and was determined to show on home soil that he could deliver against the best on the sport's greatest stage as well. However, in 1974, at 20 years of age, he failed to get on the score-sheet in West Germany and after the first round group stage in 1978, his name was still missing among goalscorers in the tournament. During his playing career he won 43 caps for Argentina and scored 20 times. He represented his country in three World Cups in 1974, 1978 and 1982, winning the competition in 1978. He was the leading goalscorer in the 1978 tournament, scoring six goals. He has also scored some very important goals for Argentina in his career.

In 1978 he was named South American Football Player of the Year ("El Mundo", Caracas, Venezuela). He was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Kempes made his full time coaching debut in Albania. His brief spell with KS Lushnja was groundbreaking, as he became the first foreign coach who signed a foreign player for the first time in Albanian soccer history. His career in Albania came to a quick end in 1997. Kempes' first title as a coach came in 1999 with The Strongest, before taking charge of Blooming the following year. Previously, he worked as assistant coach for Uruguayan manager Héctor Núñez in Valencia, and as a player-manager of Indonesian Leaguechampions Pelita Jaya before hunging up his boots for the last time at the age of 41 in 1996.

He currently works as a football analyst for ESPN Deportes, and was widely criticized after commentating on the 2008 semifinal Champions League game between Manchester United and Barcelona, in which he not only openly condoned 'simulation' (i.e. attempting to trick officials), but claimed that those who follow the rules of fair play never win.

Honours

File:Makempes.jpeg
Kempes at Rosario Central
1976 - 1977 (24 goals)
1977 - 1978 (28 goals)
  • Leading Scorer of

Nacional 1974 (25 goals) Metropolitano 1976 (21 goals)

  • World Soccer Player of the Year: 1978
Preceded by South American Footballer of the Year
1978 		Succeeded by
Preceded by FIFA World Cup Golden Shoe
1978 		Succeeded by

References

"Research: Soccer Net USA". Retrieved 2006-11-25. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help)

Template:World Soccer Magazine 100 Greatest

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